Community is a buzz word in contemporary culture. Many people consider community to be the antidote for all the evils that plague modern society: community holds the promise of warmth, protection and solidarity. Others reject the ideal of community as a slippery slope towards totalitarianism. In this view, inclusion into a sphere of communal belonging inevitably entails a violent exclusion of all those deemed ‘other’. At the same time, scholars point to new or emerging forms of community (e.g. virtual communities based on sharing personal data) that complicate the question of what precisely is meant by ‘community’.

During this workshop, we will focus on one specific aspect of community: How do contemporary practices of ‘sharing’ shape communal life? What are the consequences of the ‘shareconomy’-phenomenon for our economic system? How is our identity affected by the massive collecting and sharing of personal data? And how are new forms of community created by social media? To discuss these questions, we will be joined by (international) scholars specializing in digital culture, social analysis, media studies as well as social and economic history.

This workshop is an event organized by the Protestant Academy of the Palatinate and the University of Koblenz-Landau. Lectures will be held in English (Friday, Saturday) and German (Sunday).